Letters from readers: Term limits

I agree with a letter writer who endorses term limits. We the people need to add a Constitutional amendment.

Congress and the president should not have pension plans that we the people pay for and fantastic health care that we the people pay for.

They also need to cut their staff and their salaries in half and begin to feel the pain like the rest of the non-government workers are feeling.

Rita Friedman,

Palm Valley

REPLY: EARLY VOTING

How much is enough?Bruce Smathers strongly objects to a new law that would reduce early voting days and subjects volunteer voter registration drives to harsh penalties.

The new law gives voters an early voting period of only eight days. How many days does one need to cast a ballot?

The new law would cancel early voting on the Sunday before Tuesday's election. This is the only day on which some blacks and Hispanics can vote?

John Evritt,

Jacksonville Beach

A TRIBUTE

For those who protect usUnfortunately, many people live in their own world, mainly family, friends and co-workers.

Many people have no concept of the real world where many people are repressed, destitute, hungry or fearing for their very lives.

Some people are being raped, tortured and murdered. Unnoticed by most is that a small number of people have been fighting this inhumanity to man and have put their lives on the line to try to stop this daily carnage.

We tend to forget about those who have given so much so that we can live in peace and enjoy the lifestyle with which we have been blessed.

It's an imperfect world with imperfect people. Some of them are like vicious animals looking to see who they can devour.

God bless all those great people who give their all to fight these evil people. God bless America.

Norman Dunn,

Jacksonville

MANUFACTURING

Bring it backWe should be concerned that our government forced our consumer manufacturing jobs overseas by manipulating the tax code and giving tax breaks to companies who sent the jobs offshore.

This just deepened the recession and drastically reduced the purchasing power of millions of citizens who were supporting untold other businesses operating in the U.S.

The effect on my small business is evidence of this. If our government was so dead set on converting to a higher value-added manufacturing economy it should have given the existing industries time and support to train their employees and to retool their plants to produce these so-called higher value-added products.

It did not, but it did allow those facilities and jobs to start up in such places as Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and South Korea.

When do you think we will overtake them and competitively produce these products in the U.S.?

Larry N. Murray,

Fernandina Beach

GRANDPARENTS' RIGHTS

No law neededIn response to the article, "Grandparents have no power in visitation," I noted that the writer used the words, "rights" and "power" to express an underlying concern about children missing out on grandparent interaction as they grow up.

All grandparents' homes are not filled with love, fun and happy times. If they were, there would surely be no reason to deny visitation in the first place.

Let's not make a "law" that allows those outside of the family unit to give "power" and "rights" to grandparents. This would only be more stressful to children who would have no say in the matter.

I am a grandmother and a great-grandmother. I totally enjoy this "privilege." My grandchildren have the "right and the "power" to reject me. They do not need a law to force them to do so.

Doris O. Cass,

Jacksonville

POLITICAL GAMES

Don't raid Social SecurityPresident Barack Obama and Congress are playing political games again, and the guiltiest at this time are the Democrats, who are playing the infamous shell game.

Congress and the administration lumped two issues into one: Extending unemployment benefits and extending a tax reduction.

Extending unemployment benefits will help many people. Finding savings in other areas of the federal budget to cover the cost should not be difficult.

The issue of extending tax cuts is a real budgetary nightmare. The true facts about this tax cut extension are being hidden by the administration, Congress, and the talking heads.

The tax cut was not a reduction of federal income tax; it was a 2 percent reduction in the amount people pay into the Social Security Trust Fund.

Starting in 2036, Social Security will not be able to meet all of its monthly payment obligations. Reducing contributions into the trust fund by 2 percent will most likely move the 2036 date closer to 2025.

There are hundreds and probably thousands of wasteful programs the federal government spends money on, including studying the sex habits of rats.

The only time the federal government should be involved with this type of study is when the rats are occupying the White House and the Capital Building.

Tony Farinella,

Middleburg

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